Metabolism, Energy Balance & Obesity Research

Metabolism, Energy Balance & Obesity Research is sponsored by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Supports basic and clinical studies related to energy balance and physiological mechanisms modulating weight gain, loss, and maintenance.

Metabolism, Energy Balance & Obesity - NIDDK NIH Websites Are Changing Research Programs & Contacts Metabolism, Energy Balance & Obesity Metabolism, Energy Balance & Obesity Basic and clinical studies related to energy balance and physiological mechanisms modulating weight gain, loss and maintenance.

The Metabolism, Energy Balance, and Obesity program supports basic and clinical studies related to energy balance and physiological mechanisms modulating weight gain, loss, and maintenance. Specific areas of interest include factors that affect energy regulation such as food choices, diet composition, food intake, eating behavior, appetite, satiety, body composition, nutrient partitioning, sedentary behavior, and physical activity.

Other supported research topics include, but are not limited to, hormonal regulation of body composition, such as interactions between nutrition, exercise, thermic effect of food and appetite-regulating hormones; circulating factors and their receptors involved in regulatory pathways controlling feeding behavior, satiety, energy expenditure and thermogenesis; interactions between the gut-brain axis and peripheral secretory metabolic signals (e.g., insulin, leptin, glucocorticoids, ghrelin, and other small bioactive peptides); integration of appetite-regulating and metabolic signals in the regulation of food intake and energy balance; obesity associated inflammation; the impact of circadian rhythms on nutrient sensing and food intake; and the impact of gustatory signals on food consumption and energy balance.

Studies investigating the mechanism by which interventions, including drugs, devices, and surgery, affect food consumption or food preferences, physical activity, body composition, or other aspects of energy regulation are also supported by this program.

Also of interest are studies that use improved methods to assess body composition, examine health-risk factors with specific degrees of obesity or body composition, and determine the effects of exercise on body composition. This program also supports studies that explore mathematical models contributing to the understanding of whole-body energy balance and metabolism as well as the metabolic pathways in cells, tissues, and organs.

A particular focus of interest is on models that allow the integration of data gained from a variety of technical approaches, such as tracer studies, calorimetry, plasma hormone/cytokines, metabolomics, genomics, epigenomics, and proteomics, and on those models that would be of clinical utility, including prediction of plasma glucose levels in diabetes, nutritional partitioning, and weight management.

Developmental Neuroendocrinology, Electrophysiology, and Cognitive Neuroscience Gut-Brain Interactions in Nutrition and Obesity; Nutrient Sensing; Gastrointestinal Interoception; Neurobiology of Nausea and Vomiting Dhananjay (Jay) Gupta, Ph. D. , M.

S. Basic research on pathogenesis of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes; Role of gene-environment interaction in regulation of metabolism; Transcriptional regulation of gene expression; Cellular signaling pathways regulating intermediary metabolism and cellular identity Energy balance, thermogenesis and mitochondria biology, lipid metabolism, and functional and metabolic imaging in adipose, pancreas and other metabolic organs.

Hepatic Metabolism; Insulin Resistance; Type 2 Diabetes; Obesity; Bariatric Surgery Nutrient Metabolism; Clinical Obesity and Nutrition Circadian rhythms, Metabolic Signaling Pathways, Clock Protein Role in Gene Expression, Diabetes, Obesity Data science and artificial intelligence (AI); computation modeling; integrative genomics; network biology; genotype-phenotype relationship NIDDK Grant Opportunities Highlighted Topics of Interest to NIDDK NIDDK Active Trials in Metabolic Disease View related clinical trials from ClinicalTrials.

gov. Study sections conduct initial peer review of applications in a designated scientific area. Visit the NIH’s Center for Scientific Review website to search for study sections. NIDDK makes publicly supported resources, data sets, and studies available to researchers to accelerate the rate and lower the cost of new discoveries.

Ancillary Studies to Major Ongoing Clinical Studies to extend our knowledge of the diseases being studied by the parent study investigators under a defined protocol or to study diseases and conditions not within the original scope of the parent study but within the mission of the NIDDK. NIDDK Central Repository for access to clinical resources including data and biospecimens from NIDDK-funded studies.

NIDDK Information Network (dkNET) for simultaneous search of digital resources, including multiple datasets and biomedical resources relevant to the mission of the NIDDK. Additional Research Programs NIDDK supports the training and career development of medical and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and physician scientists through institutional and individual grants.

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